Shards of the Jyuunishi
by Tyger Mizu
Summary: [based on the anime] Tohru finally chooses between the feuding cousins, and her choice leads to a horrible chain of events. Is this the end of the Sohma family?
1. Prologue: Shigure

**Author's Note:** This is a continuation from the anime, so the history is based only upon what information is given in the anime. I know this may contradict the manga, but this is what we've decided to go with. This story is a partnered work, and I've teamed up with Serella in order to do it.

**By Tyger**

**Prologue: Shigure ----------**

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future."

That was a quote said by an American journalist by the name of Gail Lumet Buckley.

We Sohmas consider family one of the most important things in life. As an adult, I look to my cousins—Yuki, Kyo, Hatsuharu, Momiji, Hiro and Kisa, among the other youths of our family—and see that they are what will carry on our family name, our family traditions…

…and our family curse.

They are what our name, bloodline and honor rest upon. They are the ones that must ensure that the pain we suffer is ours and ours alone. They must prevent anyone from being sucked into the misery that is Sohma life.

But with our family's head, our future seemed quite bleak. Insisting on isolation, on secrecy and on breaking one's spirit, Akito controlled our lives with an iron fist. Even has his body had been dying, the price he paid for being born as the "core" of our family curse, his will was strong, intimidating, refusing to allow anyone to stand up to him and stop the abuse.

A great American woman by the name of Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The things you refuse to meet today always come back at you later on, usually under circumstances which make the decision twice as difficult as it originally was."

For years, the family was aware of how unstable Akito's mind was, and for years, we all caved to his will, letting him do as he pleased to whoever he pleased. He made sure we all suffered alone in the pain of the burden we were cursed with, and he forced his will upon us all.

Until Tohru Honda entered our lives, that is.

When I first met Tohru, I found her near the door to my house looking curiously at the Jyuunishi stones I had just finished painting. To make a long story short, we found out that Miss Tohru not only went to school with Yuki, but she was also living in a tent somewhere in the woods on Sohma ground. Believing that a tent was no place for a young, beautiful high school girl, we invited Tohru to live with us until the renovations to her grandfather's house were complete; this was the reason she was living in a tent in the first place.

And of course, with her living with us, she soon learned of our secret. She found out on the first day, in fact, when Kyo crashed through the roof of her room. She tripped over a piece of wood from the ceiling and fell into him. She then panicked when the boy had disappeared and a cat was in his place, and bumped into both Yuki and myself.

Once we explained everything to her, Tohru agreed to keep our secret, but Yuki and I knew that if she were to tell, we would have to have Hatori suppress her memory and the memory of anyone she spoke to of our secret.

She stayed with us for quite a while, and never told a soul of our curse. Good times were had by all, and we all grew quite fond of Miss Tohru. It was a joy finally having a woman in the house, to somehow manage to keep the house clean with three less-than-tidy males running amok. She became close with both Yuki and Kyo, and looked at all of the Sohmas as her new family. And we sure felt as though she was a part of our family, as well.

But then, Akito realized how close Tohru was to the rest of the family, and I suppose he felt threatened. He had allowed her to stay in my home, but soon began scheming how he would "make her suffer as the rest of the Sohmas suffer."

He planned to shove the ugliest side of the curse into her face, expose her to something Kyo had been trying to hide from her from the start, something only a few of us had even seen ourselves.

Kazuma Sohma soon returned the lives of his young martial arts students, Kyo and Yuki—though he also trained Kagura and Hatsuharu—and seemed to have merely wanted to visit with them. However, he planned to test Tohru's friendship with Kyo, and I soon found out what he wanted to do. I knew what it would do to Kyo, but Kazuma insisted, and since he had acted as the boy's father, I felt I had no room to interfere.

One stormy night, Kazuma asked Tohru to meet him behind the house. While he awaited her arrival, he brought Kyo to the same place and exchanged words with him. I watched from the shadows of the doorway as Kazuma snatched the beads from Kyo's wrist just as Tohru arrived.

Weakened from the rainy weather, Kyo fell to his knees and changed into his "true" form. It is said that this monstrous form is the true cruse of the vengeful cat spirit Kyo had been possessed with. Kyo, horrified that Tohru had seen him, assumed he was instantly rejected and took off into the night.

Contrary to what one would assume—though those of us who knew her could only assume different—Tohru dropped her umbrella and ran into the forest after Kyo.

The minutes dragged on like hours that night, and after I finally regained the sense to follow Tohru and Kyo, I found Tohru on her knees near a muddy tree with Akito murmuring cruel words to her, telling her she deserved the pain for thinking she could save us from our curse. My presence managed to cause Akito to leave her be, and once he was gone, my own tears sprung forth.

No one, aside from Akito, had wanted to hurt her. Tohru was too beautiful a flower, too bright of a light shining within the darkness of the Sohma curse. No one had ever done as much good for our family as she had, and no one had ever been so accepting. No one had taught us so much about kindness and no one had ever been so thoughtful of us. Tohru was one of a kind, and something we all cherished.

But like I said before, Akito wanted us to suffer as he suffered, and he knew hurting Tohru would break us all.

I fell to my knees, apologizing to her for being unable to protect her, telling her that she would have been better off never meeting us. She said nothing to my apologies, and merely climbed to her feet to wander off into the night.

And I had thought she had gone from our lives forever.

But once the rain stopped and the skies cleared, I heard Kazuma's voice while I was within the house. I stumbled out, and had to support myself on the wall as I began to laugh aloud with giddy and almost crazed relief at what I watched slowly emerge from the gloomy forest.

Tohru had returned to the house, carrying a dozing Kyo in cat form within her arms, while a smile played upon her face.

It was then that I knew she would be here for good.

She later wished to formally visit Akito. Shocked, I pulled her aside and stressed to her how it would be in her best interests to stay as far away from our family's head as possible. But she insisted, so I made the phone call to Hatori and arrangements were made.

In Akito's presence, Hatori, Yuki and I sat behind Tohru as she faced our psychotic leader. My gaze was locked on Akito, watching his every move. However, from the corner of my eye, I noticed that Yuki was just as tense as I, ready to spring into action should events call for our intervention.

And sure enough, they did.

Akito's temper flared and he dug his thin, sickly fingers into Tohru's silken chocolate strands, yanking her forward and thrashing her about violently. Yuki and I were immediately on our feet, restraining Akito. Hatori, too, was ready to get involved, though once Yuki and I had Akito in our grasp, our leader stopped thrashing Tohru and merely held her fast.

Akito continued to rave, but even through her tears, Tohru was able to utter the comforting and kind words needed to soften him…and those words came from her heart. But even if they didn't reach Akito the way she wanted them too, he still ended up releasing her, silently leaving us to go on our way.

Tohru put on a smile when Kyo approached us, and while she, Kyo and Yuki ran ahead, Hatori and I exchanged glances.

_It is Tohru, I believe, who brought light to us. She was a shining beacon amid the dark. But even the brightest lights cannot help but cast a shadow..._


	2. Chapter One: Tohru

**Author's Note:** Hi-dee ho, Serella here. Tyger and I have signed our first chapters, but from here on out, we'll let the format of our writing be an indicator of the author. The story should—in theory—be written with Tyger doing the prologue and even chapters, and myself taking on the epilogue and odd chapters, so this will likely be unnecessary for you to examine. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the different styles of writing of Tyger and I, comments and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated.

**^^Serella**

**Chapter One: Tohru**

Oh, Mom! What have I caused? You always told me to follow my heart...but now so many complicated things have sprung up on this path. I mean, it was nice at first, but—well...

I guess it started when Kazuma revealed Kyo's true form by pulling the black and white beads of his wrist. My breath caught at the sight of his monstrous appearance, and for a few seconds I was so afraid. But then he looked at me and in his eyes I saw true fear there. So when he ran into the forest I knew I had to follow.

And then Akito came. He said I was wrong for meddling in the affairs of the Sohma family, but Mom, _he_ was wrong. Kyo keeps telling me how much better things have been since I arrived...until bad things started to happen, of course.

My name sounded so beautiful on his lips when he told me. We had just finished a visit to the Main House of the Sohmas to see Akito, and Kyo and I were taking a walk in the forest. Yuki had disappeared the moment we got back to Shigure's house, so it was just the two of us.

We followed the path to where it ended at a pretty lake. I smiled to see the proud mother ducks leading along a string of fuzzy yellow ducklings behind them for their first swim in the crystal blue waters. I think you would have liked that place, Mom. You always did have an appreciation for beautiful scenery.

I turned at a touch on my shoulder to come face-to-face with Kyo. His expression was...well, completely new to me. It held more than just contentment, which was all I had ever seen. He actually looked happy—and more.

"Tohru," he whispered. I remember feeling a chill run down my spine and how goosebumps rose on my arms. It was a strange feeling, and really unexpected. Kyo had said my name hundreds of times before, so why was this one different?

He put his hand on the back of my head and stroked my hair, though I could see in his eyes that he would liked to have touched my face had it been possible. I knew somehow that then would have been a particularly bad moment for him to transform.

"You're beautiful," he said after a moment in a quiet way, as if it were hard to say. "And...arrgh, why does this have to be so hard!?" His expression changed, and he seemed like the same old Kyo I had always known. But he took a deep breath, and he was someone totally different. Like...still Kyo, but less harsh. "I just wanted you to know that,"—he swallowed nervously, visibly gathering up his courage—"I love you, Tohru. Everything about you. At first I tried to ignore it, or chalk it up to the fact that I just hadn't spent much time with girls before. But a few days ago, when you accepted me even in my true form, I knew that it was real. There I said it." He spun around, beginning to look angry again and also pouty.

I couldn't help but smile. I had never really known before, but now it seemed so obvious. I thought for a moment about what this meant, for both of us, before I said anything. "Kyo, I love you too." He slowly turned to look at me again, his mouth having fallen open.

It felt like magnets drew us together, our lips pressed in a kiss. Unthinkingly my arms wound themselves around his neck and in the next instant I found myself surrounded in a thin pink smoke with my lips meeting an orange cat's.

"Gaaah!" I screamed, accidentally dropping the cat. And Mom, remember what everyone always says about how cats always land on their feet? Only real cats do that, not Jyuunishi-cats. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! Here, let me pick you up and we'll get back to the house, and—oh! Your clothes! Let me just get those because I'm sure you'll want them and—"

Kyo ceased my frenzied rambling and scrambling with a few bats of his paw. "It's fine, ok? And you don't have to carry me! I can walk, you know! Hey come on, put me down!" But I just smiled as I now calmly gathered his clothes and walked along the forest path back to Shigure's house, ignoring his protests all the way.

* * *

"Leeks?" Kyo shouted indignantly, dumping the offending veggies off his plate, directly onto the floor. Across the table, I bit my lip. I had forgotten how much he hated leeks, and I hoped he wasn't angry at me. "Why the hell did you make leeks? The only person who even likes them is that damn rat—hey, where is he anyway? Aw never mind, who cares anyway?" He looked up at me, and in a split second his whole expression changed, as if he suddenly realized I was there.

There was a moment of awkward silence, which Shigure flawlessly broke with his ever-cheery manner. "Yes, I do wonder where Yuki is," he said in a pleasant tone. "Maybe I should go check on him and make sure he's not getting sick." He made as if to stand, but I interrupted him.

"I think I should go." Kyo snorted and looked as if he wanted to say something, but I put all my effort into making my eyes look pleading and he remained silent as I stood up and exited the room.

I knocked on the frame of Yuki's bedroom door, so I slowly slid it open and stepped inside. He was curled up on his bed with the covers over him. "I'm so sorry to bother you, Yuki, but you didn't come down for dinner, so I was worried that maybe you were getting sick or—"

"I'm fine, Miss Honda," came his muffled reply from under the thick blanket. He tossed it aside and sat up. "Just not particularly hungry tonight."

"Oh," I said. "But I made fish and rice and leeks with that sauce you always liked. And for dessert there's a cake. It's actually vanilla frosted which Shigure likes, because I thought it was only fair that since the dinner is one you like and the drinks are from Kyo's favorite fruit—"

He sighed, and I stopped mid-sentence. "Kyo," he said quietly. He had this strange look in his eyes, sort of despairing, but at the time I read it as exhaustion. "You and he make a—nice couple. I wish you two the best of luck."

I nodded my thanks, and pulled at my lip with one finger as I tried to think of what to say next. "So..." The word hung in the air for a moment. "I guess I'll tell Shigure and Kyo not to eat up all the food in case you get hungry later." My face burned as I realized how stupid I just sounded. I quickly stood up, and was halfway out the door when I heard his quiet reply. To this day I'm not sure if I was even supposed to hear the whispered words.

"Thank you...Tohru." My name. A word rarely heard escaping his lips, even still. He's always called me "Miss Honda." So formal, so impersonal, as if he were afraid using my name would bring him too close.

* * *

I can't believe I never saw it happening. Yuki was out a lot more after that, without telling anyone that he was going before he left, and somehow managing to evade inquiries as to his whereabouts when he returned. And when he was home, he was never _around_. It was like he was avoiding everyone, especially me. He didn't walk me home from school like he used to, either...but I chalked that off to his politeness; I thought he was trying to give Kyo and I some privacy. I feel so...naive.

He also didn't eat with us much anymore. On the rare occasion when I did catch him on his way to his room, having just gotten home from wherever he had been, our conversations were very short and to the point. He'd simply say he had been out for a walk or "around," and that sorry but he wasn't hungry because he had eaten while he was out. Remembering how he had gone from lean to gaunt in a few short weeks, I'm pretty sure he nearly stopped eating entirely. Up earlier than usual and claiming to have eaten breakfast, a smidge of food at lunch, and excuses and cover-ups for dinner. Many people would take that as an indication, but somehow we missed it.

For all the warning signs—flashing lights and ringing bells that I never saw—he displayed, nothing was ever said about it. Shigure stopped commenting on his absences at the table and around the house, Kyo stopped complaining about him in general, and I...I hardly gave him a thought, to be perfectly honest. Kyo had become so much more important in my life than he had previously been, though I don't mean to understate how good of friends we were before we started dating. Yuki seemed like a minor character in my story at that point, and when Kyo was around—which he almost always was—everyone and everything else was little more than white noise. I threw myself too deep into him, and forgot that to begin loving one person more does not mean you should not love another less.


	3. Chapter Two: Kyo

**Chapter Two: Kyo ----------**

I've never been one to "put myself out," so to speak, but the day I told Tohru how I felt was one of the best days of my life. Actually saying the words were kinda hard, since I was expecting rejection. Yeah, even after she saw me in my true form and came after me, I still expected her to be freaked out or something. Pretty stupid, huh?

Anyways, when I'm with Tohru, I feel like I can let my guard down and be myself, I feel like I'm truly accepted, and that I'm not being compared to anyone. I feel like I'm good enough…good enough for her love, which she has so willingly given to me. And—God!—am I grateful.

Tohru is the light in our lives, mine and all the other Jyuunishi. We all love her and have come to care about her immensely in her time spent with us. She's healed our broken souls and wiped our tears and she's accepted us for what we are and where we come from.

And yeah, Tohru and I are an item now.

Yeah, funny ain't it? How could the wretched boy with the cat spirit, the rejected Jyuunishi, come to get the girl? I sometimes wonder the same thing myself, but then I realize how her eyes light up in that special way when we're together, and I feel her lips against mine in a sweet kiss, and I'm reminded that this isn't a dream, that she really does love me and is with me, even if afterward, I'm on all fours and covered in orange fur.

When we first broke the news, I had to fold my arms across my chest and turn away from Shigure and that damn rat to prevent myself from blushing and grinning from ear to ear like some kind of idiot. But I'm sure Tohru saw my expression…and that's perfectly fine. She should know she makes me giddy and relaxed all at the same time, that I'm completely unlike the person I make myself out to be when I'm around her.

That night, Tohru made dinner…and unfortunately, it was the one thing in the whole damn world that I couldn't stand: leeks.

"Leeks?" Glaring at the reeking vegetable upon my plate, I quickly cleared it from my meal without regards to where it landed, which happened to be the floor. "Why the hell did you make leeks?" I growled. "The only person who even likes them is that damn rat—hey, where is he anyway? Aw never mind, who cares?"

I suddenly realized what a freakin' idiot I had been when I glanced up from my dinner and locked gazes with Tohru. I knew she was friends with Yuki, and I knew that she didn't like it when I spoke badly of him around her…and guess what genius me had just done? Exactly what she didn't like! God, I'm so stupid sometimes…

"Yes, I do wonder where Yuki is," Shigure said suddenly, cheerfully. "Maybe I should go check on him and make sure he's not getting sick."

Tohru soon stood, uttering a quick "I think I should go" before giving me a fleeting glance, then going upstairs.

I scowled as I lowered my head, glaring at my plate. I felt Shigure's gaze on me and I snapped my head up. "What?!" I yelled.

"Nothing, Kyo…" Shigure said somberly. "Nothing at all…"

The next couple of days, to the next couple of weeks were weird. There was tension in the air that was thick enough to cut with a knife, and I rarely ever saw that damn rat, Yuki.

It's kinda hard to avoid someone completely when you live in the same house and go to the same school as them, but Yuki managed to avoid me completely unless I went looking for him to fight with. I didn't seek him out and want to fight with him as much as one may think; between Tohru and the rest of my life, I barely paid my cousin any mind, in all honesty. If it wasn't for a few softly-spoken statements of concern from Tohru, I would have forgotten about him completely. And it was only after about two weeks of Tohru and me going steady that I actually started to think about Yuki and why he wasn't around much.

As I was walking through the hallways of school one day, I overhead some of the first year girls talking together in a little huddle in hushed tones. Casually walking over to a nearby water fountain, I bent to get a drink while listening to their conversation once I had heard my rival's name mentioned.

"Did you two hear about the Student Council President?!" the first girl asked.

"Prince Yuki, you mean?" said the second.

The third asked, "What about him?"

The first girl said with horror in her voice, "Well, he's resigning from office!!"

"That's terrible!!" the second and third girl shouted in unison.

I had heard enough. I didn't need to know how crushed their little hearts were or how the school wouldn't be the same without that damn rat in power and all that other girly crap they would soon be ranting about. So, I pulled away from the water fountain and adjusted my backpack before shoving my hand into my pocket and heading towards the main exit of the school.

Tohru had wanted to walk home with her two friends, Yankee and Electrical Girl—I mean, Uo and Hana—so my trek back to Shigure's house was to be in solitary silence. There was a bit of a walk from the school to the edge of the city, and then from the edge of the city and into the forest, then finally to Shigure's house. And without Tohru by my side, I realized just how long that walk was going to be.

But the lack of conversation—or the lack of hearing Tohru's voice, however you wanted to look at it—meant that my mind could wander. And it did, as much as I hate to admit it.

Whatever was bothering that damn rat had to be something serious for him to resign from his place as Student Council President. What the hell could it have been? Perhaps it was something that could have a negative effect on Tohru…or even me?!

But then it hit me.

Yuki had been acting strangely ever since Tohru and I started going steady. I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my face. I had finally beaten him and was better than him at something, and he couldn't handle it, so he decided to seclude himself and run away from the facts.

He and I had been competing for Tohru's heart since day one, but it was an unspoken competition. We were always fighting, and we hated each other then, for past reasons, but with Tohru seeming to like both of us, it became a match of "charm," as Shigure might call it, just like everything between that damn rat and I became.

In the end, I got the girl. But by then, it hadn't been to show Yuki that I was better than him…it had been to show Tohru that I really did love her and care about her. Beating Yuki was just a bonus that I hadn't even thought about until that day as I walked home alone.

Snickering to no one in particular, I began to gloat to myself at how I was better than Yuki, how someone finally thought more of me than of him, and how I had proven myself more thoroughly than I ever could have in beating him in a fight.

But my train of thought was soon brought to an end when I turned a corner within the city and was met in the face with a fist.

I dropped my backpack and stumbled back a few steps with my hand to my cheek. When my eyes finally focused, I glared at Hatsuharu, who was well into his Black personality.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Haru demanded.

I stared at him as if he had gone completely mad, which he had to some extent because he _was_ Black, after all. And then my rage hit me. Who the hell did he think he was, punching me out of the blue and asking me questions I didn't understand?!  "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YA DAMN BASTARD?!"

"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, YOU STUPID CAT!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO YUKI?!"

Black Haru's normally snide and cocky face was flushed with his anger and his eyes were blazing like a mad man's. Whatever he was accusing me of must have really pissed him off this time. And without warning, he threw another punch that I was barely able to block.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about! I didn't do anything to him, so just knock it off, Haru!" I said as I blocked another punch. But he just kept coming at me, and I had to stand my ground.

"LIAR!" He yelled.

Countering his attacks, it soon became an all-out brawl, similar to the fight we had when Haru had first met Tohru. All the while he was demanding things like, "What the hell did you do to him?!" and was yelling things like, "I didn't think you were that low, ya stupid cat!" and "You're such a cruel and sick bastard!"

But then he came out with:

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TOHRU SEES IN YOU!!! YOU'RE JUST A CRUEL AND EVIL SPIRIT OF THE CAT!! NO WONDER YOU'RE THE REJECTED JYUUNISHI!!"

My anger flared within me and I delivered a powerful blow to his face, then introduced my knee to his stomach. I was just about to throw him to the ground when my focus was shattered by the horrified yelling of,

"Kyo! Hatsuharu! Stop fighting!!"

The sound of Tohru's voice took me completely by surprise, and in my stupidity, I turned my attention to her. She was, and still is, first priority in my mind, after all. But that dirty Black Haru took the opportunity I gave him and attacked me when I was least prepared.

I soon found myself on the ground with the enraged Black Haru on top of me, delivering blow after pummeling blow. He had such an advantage over me, I could barely defend myself. Realizing that I couldn't fight him off of me, I just blocked as many of his hits as I could…

…which wasn't very much, now that I look back on it.

But I could have kicked his ass if Tohru hadn't broken my concentration.

"Haru!"

It was another female voice. I was surprised I could hear it over the beating I was taking.

The next thing I knew, Haru was being hauled off of me and Tohru was soon leaning down and looking to me with concern.

"Kyo! Are you alright?!" Worry was clear in her large, innocent eyes, and I gave her a smirk as I sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, though I was sore as hell and knew it would hurt even more the next day. I soon hauled myself to my feet and glared daggers at the still Black Haru while I dusted myself off.

"You can't beat up Kyo like that for no reason! He hasn't done anything wrong!"

It was then that I noticed who had pulled Haru off of me.

Kisa, one of the youngest of the Jyuunishi, was holding onto Haru's arm with a death grip, trying to keep him from tackling me or something. Standing near to her was Hiro, another member of the Jyuunishi. They must have been walking home or something when they heard me and Haru fighting.

"He's the one that put Yuki into this depressed and dark state! Yuki didn't deserve that! Kyo needs to pay for the pain he's putting Yuki through!" Haru yelled at Kisa.

Kisa winced slightly at Haru's harsh tone, but as he glared at her, I saw his expression slowly soften and he became White Haru once again. At this change, Kisa smiled. "Come on, Haru. Let's go home," she said. "We'll talk about it with Hatori." She then turned her innocent gaze to me. "Are you alright, Kyo?"

I snorted, scowling as I gave her an annoyed look. "Yeah, I'm fine." I then glared all out at Haru. "Don't think I'm letting you get away with this! I'll give you a good beating so fast, it'll make your head spin!"

"Whatever, Kyo. I'll pursue my issue with you at a later time," Haru said calmly as Kisa began to lead him away. He then looked to Tohru and said, "I'm sorry if my actions upset you, Tohru."

I saw that she was surprised by the apology, but Tohru gave him a nervous smile as she said, "You and Kyo _do_ have your differences, I guess…"

I rotated my shoulder as I watched Hiro, Kisa and Hatsuharu walk off in the opposite direction. I could feel Tohru's worried gaze on me as I did so, but I couldn't speak to her just yet.

Hatsuharu had attacked me and accused me of hurting Yuki in some way. The thought process that had been halted by my sudden fight returned to the frontline of my mind.

Could my relationship with Tohru be what had depressed Yuki so much?

Nah…couldn't be…Yuki has always been more mature than that…hasn't he…?

"Are you alright, Kyo?" Tohru asked quietly, worry in her voice.

I turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's go home."

And after taking her hand within my own, we walked the distance from the city to Shigure's house in comfortable silence.


	4. Chapter Three: Kisa

**Chapter Three: Kisa**

"But it was so weird seeing him there!" Hiro exclaimed, a somewhat puzzled expression on his face. "You know how he—" he lowered his voice slightly as if someone unwelcome were to overhear "—how he hates Akito. Why would he come back to the main house, anyway? I mean, a lot of us miss him and all, but still..."

I simply shrugged, not knowing very well the person my good friend Hiro spoke of. Yuki had lived with Shigure for quite some time, and only came around the main house on special occasions such as the New Year. I vaguely recalled a dance from many years ago when the year being ushered in was that of his Jyuunishi form, the rat. But that had been many years ago. In the past few weeks, however, Yuki had been making routine appearances around the main house, a true rarity before. It seemed odd, but I didn't think it had anything at all to do with me.

"Maybe he just misses everyone," I said absently. The topic hardly held my interest. "Maybe he's just making up for all the time he's been away, and how he never comes around."

"Maybe," Hiro replied, seeming deep in thought. We walked in silence for a few minutes, on our way to have some after school ice cream at a parlor nearby. As we neared a corner, I heard a familiar voice shouting at someone. 

"LIAR!" it yelled. Almost immediately the sounds of an ensuing scuffle broke out. Hiro and I exchanged glances, and simultaneously dashed to the scene of the fight, where blurs of the black and white of Hatsuharu flashed around alongside the bright orange of Kyo's. The two of us stood in shock for a few moments while fists flew along with acid comments.  But then a line from Haru made my jaw drop with it's cruelty.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TOHRU SEES IN YOU!!! YOU'RE JUST A CRUEL AND EVIL SPIRIT OF THE CAT!! NO WONDER YOU'RE THE REJECTED JYUUNISHI!!"

Kyo's face turned even redder, making him look positively livid. He was just about to throw a punch right in Haru's face, when I heard someone shouting.

"Kyo! Hatsuharu! Stop fighting!!" It was Sissy. She was standing much as Hiro and I were, frozen in front of the enfolding scene. Kyo's concentration was broken for a split second, but it was all Haru needed to get the upper hand and pummel him senselessly. It was right about then when I heard—

"Haru!" It was my own voice. I had cried out without realizing it, or even meaning to. Hiro and I, coming quickly out of our stupor, seized Haru's arms and pulled him off of Kyo. Though Hiro relinquished his side, I held tightly to the arm I had grabbed, insuring that he would not leap on Kyo again while he was down.

I watched for a moment as Kyo assured Tohru that he was fine, before rounding on Haru. "You can't beat up Kyo like that for no reason! He hasn't done anything wrong!" I shouted, upset with him for having gone Black. 

"He's the one that put Yuki into this depressed and dark state!" he yelled back, though I knew he was not angry with me, but instead just venting. "Yuki didn't deserve that! Kyo needs to pay for the pain he's putting Yuki through!" Despite knowing this, I flinched at the rage in his tone. Suddenly his expression softened, characteristic of him turning White once more.

"Come on, Haru," I said, letting go my hold on his arm and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go home."

* * *

"You must learn to control your impulses, Hatsuharu," a cold voice rang out through the doorway to Hatori's office. We hadn't even entered, and the doctor was already berating Haru for his actions, of which—to our knowledge—he knew not.

Once inside, Hatori gestured for the two of us to sit down in chairs that sat before him at his desk. He leaned his hands together at the fingertips, placed his elbows on the edge of the desk, and stared at us with his chilling glare. I looked away, and Haru broke first.

"It's that _cat_, Hatori," he confessed. "You know what he's done to Yuki! You've seen firsthand the worst of it, and you of all people should understand—"

"Understand what? The pain love can bring a person?" Hatori snapped, his hands clenching into tight fists. He quickly composed himself and settled back down into his chair. "You are correct, however; I _have_ seen the physical effects of this situation on Yuki, though I speak of more than just his lack of appetite and drooping demeanor."

I furrowed my brow, and brought up a picture in my mind of Yuki as I had seen him the day before, and compared it to another of him when I was staying with Sissy a few months back. The difference between the two images was drastic, once I thought about it. Yuki's natural beauty was now masked by the gauntness of his face, and his lean build was no longer an excuse for the extreme slimness that went beyond slender. Had he not been eating? Sissy was a good cook, and I knew he thought so, so why did he not eat?

Next to me, Haru seemed to be thinking deeper into it. "Yesterday..." he suddenly whispered. "Yesterday, I was leaving the house to go on an errand, when I bumped into him. There was a large bruise on his arm, and his shirt was ripped. He said he had fallen, but he has the grace of a swan, he would never fall. I can't believe I didn't see..."

"Well, you're not exactly the most logical thinker around Yuki, Haru," I piped in. He shot me a look that said "shh." I suddenly wished I could retract the statement, unsure as we both were of how Hatori would respond to talk of Haru's feelings for Yuki. It was not a secret, but rather kept on the down low.

"But if he didn't fall—and that I am sure of—how _did_ it happen?" Haru inquired, trying not to seem _too_ interested, and failing badly.

Hatori closed his eyes for a moment, before turning them upon us in a somber look. Not that Hatori had any looks that were not somber. "Hatsuharu, Kisa, the name of Sohma is a dark one. Many secrets are kept in this family, one in which you are intimately involved. But that which you ask of goes beyond the Curse of the Zodiac. It is perhaps for your own good that you not know—now, at least. This matter is one to be dealt with by the family's elders—"

"Like Akito?" I asked innocently, wondering if Yuki had told the Head of the family anything.

Eyes flashing, Hatori quickly responded, "No!" He took a deep breath. "You must not speak of this to anyone—_anyone—e_specially Akito. I will speak to Shigure soon, and I will brief you on any information I deem relevant to you. Now go, and remember—do not speak of this, even to each other."

* * *

"I can't believe Hatori!" Haru fumed, pacing the length of his bedroom. "He thinks we're too young to understand! As if age matters when someone you care about may be in trouble! No, _is_ in trouble!"

Tuning out Haru's ranting, I allowed my thoughts to tumble over one another in my mind. Kyo and Sissy dating; Yuki depressed and battered; Hatsuharu utterly distraught and taking out his frustration violently; Hatori asking us to keep quiet; a storm was brewing within the Sohma family, and it looked like I would just have to hold tight and weather it. After all, how could it really affect me?


	5. Chapter Four: Ayame

**Chapter Four: Ayame ----------**

For months I've been trying to get closer to the younger brother I had once shunned. The realizations of my past mistakes hadn't set in until long after a huge rift had formed between us; it wasn't until the damage seemed irreparable that I finally realized the terrible mistake I had made as a teenager.

As an adult, I had taken on a new sense of responsibility and felt the need to be the big brother to dear Yuki. Unfortunately, I hadn't the slightest idea how to accomplish my goal of forging a bond with him…

…until she came along, that is.

It was one Tohru Honda that explained to me how I must go about making my efforts in order to have hopes of those efforts being returned. I began to spend more and more time at Shigure's house, allowing more and more about myself to be revealed to my little brother. I believed it shocked Yuki to find that he and I so much in common…

But if my little brother is hesitant to take the time to understand me, I still care about him immensely. I feel as though I must make up for lost time, and scramble to meet all of the responsibilities of being an elder sibling while attempting to convey to him that my intentions come from the heart.

So naturally I became infinitely concerned when I heard that Yuki had left Shigure's home to take residence in the main house.

I had been diligently working on the latest request from one of my most frequent and valuable customers when I got the call.

"Ayame!" Minei, my lovely assistant, called from the front desk. "You have a telephone call!"

I had been annoyed with having my concentration broken; the piece that I had been working on was a rather complex one. "Take a message!" I replied, sewing needle held tightly between my teeth as I attempted to work a knot out from the thread.

"It's Tohru. She says it's important. She says it's about your brother," she soon informed me.

Before I realized what I was doing, the dress I had been so focused on was tossed carelessly to the floor as I nearly ran to the front desk. "Yes, Tohru?" I asked, taking the phone from Minei.

Tohru had been quick to apologize. "Ayame, I'm so sorry to disturb you at work. I'm sure you were really busy on a new outfit and—"

"Tohru," I said, gently cutting her off. "Don't worry about disturbing me. Even though I was engrossed in an important undertaking, I know you wouldn't call unless it was something serious. What's the matter?"

"Well, I, um…it's Yuki…" She seemed to hesitate. Perhaps she felt it wasn't her place to tell me?

"Go on…"

Tohru's voice was suddenly dripping with worry, and she sounded as if she were on the brink of tears. "He…he moved out. He's not living with us here in Shigure's house anymore."

"…where is he?" I took a moment to swallow. "Where did he go?"

"Kyo had said he moved to the main house. Shigure seemed a bit worried at the news," Tohru said. "Oh, Ayame, I'm so sorry! I don't know if I should have told you! Maybe you should speak to Shigure about it. He probably knows a lot more than I do about it and—"

I had felt as if I had been delivered a strong blow to the gut. My breath hitched as past conversations with Hatori and Shigure flooded my mind, past conversations of the horrors my brother had suffered in the main house. Of course, the incidents had never been proven, my brother having kept to himself during those times, but the sadness and the fear in his eyes…even though I hadn't been around much when he was growing up, it was enough for even me to notice back then.

"It's perfectly fine, Tohru," I said softly, keeping my voice a lot steadier than my nerves were. "I'll speak with Shigure. Thank you for telling me about this. I appreciate it."

"Oh, it was no trouble. I'm just…I'm just so worried! Everyone's so gloomy about it! I'm afraid something horrible is going to happen to him!" Her sobs wretched at my heart…for I nearly wished to shed tears myself.

I forced myself to smile, my usual laughter escaping my throat, even if it sounded a bit strained. "Worry not, my dear Tohru! Shigure, Hare and I will attend to this. We won't let anything bad happen to dear Yuki. You have my word on that!"

"Alright…thank you, Ayame. I'm sorry for bothering you…" She said with a sigh.

"As I said, it was no bother. You have nothing to worry about. Try to calm down, perhaps have a cup of tea," I assured her.

"I think I will."

"Take care, Tohru. Thank you for telling me this."

Once I hung up the phone with Tohru, an uncharacteristic scowl had crossed my face as I dialed Shigure' house. I didn't understand how Shigure and Hare could allow something as asinine as this to occur! We all knew of what Yuki had suffered in the main house; it was the reason he had moved out in the first place!

Shigure's voice was heard on the other end of the line after the phone had rung three or four times. "Hello?"

"Shigure! What is going on with Yuki?! Why did you let my brother leave?"

Refusing to discuss it over the phone, Shigure invited me over for tea the next day. I showed up first thing.

He was surprisingly calm, nearly as calm as Hare would have been, and it had troubled me to a great extent. I was just completely unable to fathom why this was allowed to happen. It angered me that those who were close to my baby brother would let him make such a self-destructive decision.

"How could you allow this to happen, Shigure?!" I raved. "Did you even try to stop him?! What does Hare have to say about all of this?! How can you be so calm?! You know as well as I do what is bound to happen!! We have to get him out of there as soon as possible!!"

"Aya…listen to me, alright? Just…hear me out before you wake the dead," Shigure pleaded. He then took a deep breath once I had quieted down. "This decision was made by Yuki and Yuki alone. He's been pulling farther and farther away from us for a while now, and he refuses to tell us what's bothering him. I did attempt to talk him out of moving, but he insisted it was the only way to resolve matters.

"As far as whatever danger he may or may not be putting himself in…well, Yuki's older now, and I doubt he'd let history repeat itself. Perhaps he just needs a break from everyone. This house has been rather active as of late, and he has always been a very conservative child. Whatever his reasons are, I don't believe we have anything to worry about concerning his safety until he either comes to us, or we see evidence of it."

His voice was level, nearly monotone, and his eyes deadly serious. He was so utterly unlike himself, the complete opposite of the Shigure we've all come to see every day. And as much as I didn't want to believe it, he had a point.

"I don't think we should give history the chance to repeat itself. Am I the only one looking out for my little brother?!" I snapped, frustrated with both Shigure and the situation at hand.

"Aya, please, for me," he sighed. "Let's sit back and watch. Yuki was always Akito's favorite, and you know what would happen should we interfere with the return of his favorite cousin. There's no need to start a family civil war if nothing has happened yet."

I had never thought I'd see the day when I actually loathed one of my best friends. But after what Shigure had said to me, if someone asked, I could have easily said I hated him.


End file.
